Assessment of Bovine Dung Based Bio-Energy and Emission Mitigation Potential for Maharashtra

The well-being of society, economy and the environment depends on safe, clean, secure, sustainable and affordable energy. Much of the current energy supply is from the limited resources of fossil fuels which are environmentally unsustainable. In the wake of fast depletion of conventional fuels, global warming due to GHG emissions and rising energy costs, the efficient use of energy is continually gaining importance. India is having a very high potential for bovine dung based bio-energy systems. World’s largest cattle inventory, a rural population of around 70% and millions of jobless youth are the factors that put forth the proposed Bioenergy Farm not just as a solution to energy poverty but also as a potential solution to the problem of rural unemployment. In this work a district wise assessment has been done for the bovine dung availability and bio-energy generation potential for the state of Maharashtra, as also the resulting emission mitigation potential. A layout of conceptual Bioenergy Farm has been proposed. Computations for revenue generation from Carbon Credit and Renewable Energy Certificate have been done to assess their potential contribution in the financial feasibility of the Bio-Energy Farm.